Page 65 of The Wrong Date Deal

As Piper stared at her, already horrified, a woman emerged from the direction of Shea’s bedroom, smiling slightly.

“Shea, I’m just going to pop out and give you two a minute. I’ll be back in ten.”

Shea smiled. “Can you pick up some more condoms for the—”

“What did you think I was going for?” the woman asked in a sultry, slightly purring voice.

Piper was ready to die on the spot. She wasn’t precious about her dating life or sex, but she was having a moment and had managed to interrupt Shea having sex. Or trying to.Fantastic.

Shea winked at the woman and stared openly at her butt as she slipped quickly out of the apartment.

Piper shook her head once they were alone. “You could have just told me to leave.”

Shea smiled. “No need. We were having a little refreshment break anyway. Plus, now we get to restock the condoms and have more fun with my toys.”

“I’m delighted for you. But you really could have told me to come back tomorrow.”

“And leave you to struggle with your feelings all alone? What kind of friend would that make me?”

Piper sucked in a long, slow breath. “That’s the thing. I’m not particularly struggling.”

“Okay. Great. So, why the face?”

Piper grimaced. “Because I’m not struggling.”

“I’m going to need more of an explanation than that, Pipes.”

“Well, the struggle, I guess, is what everyone else is going to think.”

“I don’t think anyone’s going to be surprised.” She frowned in confusion.

“Exactly. Like you said, the second I tell Massima, she’s going to act like I’m getting married. The second Hermes knows, he’s going to worry about being forgotten. And, the second everyone else knows, it’s like it’s a big deal, a done thing.”

“And you don’t want it to be?”

Why were feelings so very complicated? She sometimes wished she could just spill the contents of her thoughts all over the table for everyone to see. They could pick through them and understand exactly what she was thinking and feeling. Then,nobody would be confused, and she wouldn’t be left stuck trying to explain things she didn’t have the words to explain.

“I don’t know,” she eventually muttered.

Shea studied her for a moment. “You’re hoping for a friends-with-benefits kind of situation?”

“No.”

Shea’s eyes flashed wide for a second and Piper knew she was being ridiculous but this conversation was the reason she’d come to Shea.

“So,” Shea said, her voice measured, “you’re hoping for…?”

Piper sighed. “I don’t know that I’mhopingfor anything. I don’t know how she feels.”

“Like shit, you don’t.”

“Thank you for that.” She rolled her eyes. “We haven’t had a conversation about it, we’re each other’s… I don’t know, emergency call for bad dates?”

Shea studied Piper through narrowed eyes, clearly trying to piece together what she felt she was missing. “I don’t think you need to have a conversation for it to be obvious she’s into you, but, also, the fact that you made that deal and didn’t think it was going to lead you here is, frankly, baffling.”

“Excuse me?”

“You went on a date, met August, hadimmediatechemistry, found out she wasn’t your date, made a pact to stay in touch, and thought youweren’tgoing to fall for her? What planet are you living on?”

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